And…we’re back! A very pleasant good morning to you. It’s Monday, October 21, 2019, and here comes an attempt at focusing our blinkers on the reality of the new day. Portland’s weather will stay under a windblown spell of rain and swirling leaves for two more days, before the sun wins out on Wednesday and Thursday. Sunrise 7:34 AM, sunset 6:15 PM.
We’re at the peak of what might be the most overwhelmingly spectacular display of autumn leaves that we’ve seen in years. My friends and I, during a trek, stood and gasped at their monarchical beauty, backlit by an internally luminescent bank of clouds. My iPhone camera couldn’t do it justice; for that, I’d need a canvas, a palette, and the ability to paint.
There’s a line of thunderstorms draping into the South from the midwest and marching toward the east, carrying a threat of severe weather all along the way. Dallas. My sweetie’s driving from Little Rock, AK to Conyers, GA today.
An October snowstorm provided skiers with an early-season delight as Timberline’s snow boss took one look at the two-foot base and declared, “Sneak Preview Day!” They opened the Pucci and Bruno’s lifts for five hours on Sunday, before closing them; the snow level is rising to 8000 feet over the next several days. Bodes well.
The snowfall in the Oregon Cascades nearly put a deadly end to a months’-long trek up the Pacific Crest Trail by 50-year-old Robert Campbell, who last year did the entire Appalachian Trail. This May he started near the Mexico/California border and endured wildfires and an earthquake, but fall closed in hard by the time he reached Oregon country and he got lost in a whiteout in the mountains of Marion County. He managed to get enough of a cell signal to make a fragmentary 911 call, and Marion County Search and Rescue did a sharp job of finding him shivering and suffering from third-degree frostbite in an outhouse at the Breitenbush campground. He vows to come back and finish the PCT next year.
This woolly bunch of storms also nearly killed five people who elected to take a sailboat out into the open waters off Yaquina Bay, stranding themselves atop 10-to-20 foot seas. They radioed a 5 AM mayday, and the Coast Guard charged out into the dangerous waters, found the boat and all five aboard, had them put on survival suits and abandon ship; they were pulled up from the water and taken to dry land. They’re OK, and their USCG hauled their boat into port, too.
He’s two weeks gone, and Owen Klinger has not called, not has he been found. His Mom Mary’s latest video is directed at her son, saying that he’s not in trouble, nobody is mad, and ending with, “We love you, Owen. We need to know you’re OK. Please come home.”
A fire in Camas damaged or destroyed several small businesses. It began at a laundry when a pile of sheets spontaneously combusted.
Looks like Burgerville workers are about to go on strike against five Portland outlets.
If you’ve been on social media this weekend, you’ve seen the video that surfaced, thanks to a KOIN-TV public records request, of Parkrose High School coach Keanon Lowe bravely taking a loaded gun away from a distraught student this year, then treating the boy with a level of compassion and care that’s brought tears to the many who’ve watched it. If you haven’t seen it and you’d like to, it’s at the top of the TMSG links in the Coffee Cup below. I should note that the Parkrose school superintendent has objected to the video’s release and its use in the media on student privacy grounds. It was a pleasure to shake Keanon’s hand at Parkrose High School this spring, when he was honored as our K103 Educator of the Month.
On the local birthday list:
Oregon Ducks football great and former NFL quarterback Joe Harrington, born in ’78 is, umm..come on math….41. Les AuCoin, the former Oregon congressman turned Montana memoirist celebrates double-7s today…and this would have been the 90th birthday of the esteemed Portland author Ursula K. LeGuin, who passed last year.
Congratulations to the Ducks, the Beavers, the Cougars, and the Vikings! Comforting words to the Huskies, Seahawks..and to the Timbers and the Thorns, whose seasons ended with road losses this weekend. We love them just the same, RCTID and all that, and will pack Providence Park when summertime rolls around again. And if you haven’t watched John Canzano’s video of Oregon coach Mario Cristobal talking with his kids by phone after the game, it’s in the TMSG section below. Ducks are up to #1, by the way.
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Something good for your Monday?
–“Video shows ex-Oregon WR Keanon Lowe heroically disarming suicidal student gunman with hugs at Parkrose High School”
–“Hero girl, 12, safely parks car when mother has seizure behind the wheel”
–“‘Happy to Chat’ benches: The woman getting strangers to talk”
–“Couple has second chance at love, tying the knot 60 years after their first engagement”
–“Oregon Coach Facetimes with his kids after big win over the tough Huskies” (hat tip to John Canzano)
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Quick final note: it’s a 3-day week for me. Burning my days. Thinking about a coast trip. Thursday and Friday DDs may or may not pop up in your feed, but what’s new about that?
Portland's Daily Drip 